BCGS

Monday 17 March (Indoor Meeting, 7.00 for 7.30 start): AGM followed by 'The Cascades Volcanoes of NW North America'. Speaker: Alan Clewlow (BCGS Treasurer and acting Meetings Secretary, leader of 'Volcanic Experiences' geological tours).

This talk will look at the plate tectonic situation in that region of the planet and how it has developed over time to create the currently active High Cascades range of Volcanoes, as well as earlier manifestations of volcanism. There will be an examination of the more recent geological history of the area, including the creation of the Columbia plateau basalts. The latter part of the talk will focus on the eruptive history of specific volcanoes in Washington and Oregon, including Mount St Helens, and the hazards they present.

Alan studied for a Geology degree at UCL between 1969 and 1972. After graduation he took up a post working as a gemmologist in the London Chamber of Commerce Gem Testing Laboratory, in Hatton Garden, at the time the only official centre for the identification of gemstones and minerals in the UK. While there, he also started lecturing in gemmology at the City of London Polytechnic, eventually leading to a career change into full-time teaching. Most of his career was spent as a lecturer in Geography and Geology in the West Midlands, which also included 13 years as an OU lecturer on Geology courses. For the past 27 years he has also been leading escorted geological tours for adults to volcanic areas of the world, covering locations as far away as Hawaii, Latin America and New Zealand, as well as classic sites in Europe such as Sicily, Santorini and Iceland.

Click here for a Google map of the location.

Monday 14 April (Indoor Meeting): 'Diamonds'. Speaker: Chris Duffin (Teacher, author, currently Scientific Associate at the NHM London, also part of the Palaeobiology Research Group with Prof. Mike Benton at the University of Bristol. More biographical details on our website).

In addition to being a girl’s best friend, diamonds possess great cultural significance. This lecture explores the geological occurrence of this celebrated gemstone, its properties, variety and use as a jewel, including an overview of the different cuts produced by jewelers through history. Some celebrated diamond gemstones and classic diamond sites, together with the stories behind their discovery, are considered, together with the position of the diamond in folklore and legend.

Retired from school teaching, Chris Duffin was formerly Senior Master, Director of Sixth Form, Head of Biology and Head of Critical Thinking at Streatham and Clapham High School in south London. Following a Geology degree, he obtained a Ph.D. in Vertebrate Palaeontology at University College London. He has published extensively (over 320 papers) on a wide range of fossil groups but is particularly concerned with sharks and their allies. He co-authored the Handbook of Paleoichthyology Volume 3D . Chondrichthyes. Paleozoic Elasmobranchii : Teeth (2010, Friedrich Pfeil Verlag). The history of Geology is a more recent interest and has borne fruit in Special Publication 375 of the Geological Society – “A History of geology and Medicine” (Duffin, Moody & Gardner-Thorpe 2013) and “Geology and Medicine: Historical Connections” (2017). More recently, he has edited books on Amber in the History of Medicine (2017), Collection in the Space of Culture (2019), The Medical Legacy of Mafra (2020) and Insights into Portuguese Medical History (2022). Chris received the Palaeontological Association’s Mary Anning Award for outstanding contributions to palaeontology in 2011, and the Marsh Award for Palaeontology in 2018. He also holds a second PhD, this time in the history of medicine from Kingston University. Chris continues research as a Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum in London and the Lauer Foundation for Paleontology in Chicago, and as part of the Palaeobiology Research Group with Prof. Mike Benton at the University of Bristol.

Click here for a Google map of the location.